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Thursday, March 23, 2017 | Vol. XCI, Issue 18 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com
Local leaders call for community activism Speakers address the importance of political engagment, encourage University envolvement Amy Donovan Pipe Dream News
Katherine Scott/Pipe Dream Photographer Students participate in the St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser Monday evening in the Events Center.
St. Baldrick's raises over $11K for a cure Students, local residents shave heads for childhood cancer resarch Stacey Blansky Contributing Writer
A crowd of Binghamton University students and local community members gathered at the Events Center on Monday to get their heads shaved in support of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an international volunteer-powered charity that funds research to find a cure for childhood cancer. Since its inception in 2005, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation has raised over $200 million, and BU has played a role in those profits for six consecutive years. Each year,
the University has set a goal of $15,000, and has raised about $80,000 since the event began at BU. As of Wednesday, this year’s event raised $11,544, and donations will continue to be collected until Monday. The BU athletics department sponsored the event, which drew attendance from multiple BU sports teams and community members. According to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation website, approximately one in 285 people will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 20. Linda Reynolds, assistant athletic director for student-
athlete development and co-organizer of St. Baldrick’s at BU, said that the event raises awareness for kids battling cancer and that the support is important. “This is one of those events that is nice because we get students involved and we get the community involved,” Reynolds said. “It blends a little bit of both.” The event is ultimately a culmination of all the fundraising hosted by individuals who have signed up ahead of time to be “shavees.” Forty students, faculty and
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In an effort to bring student and community activists together, the Binghamton Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow — a local organization that advocates for social justice — hosted an activist summit on Wednesday in Old University Union. Graduate students and community members spoke on behalf of various activist groups such as the Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier, a local group that is dedicated to dismantling mass incarceration, and Truth Pharm, an organization that advocates for policy changes in regards to substance abuse and treatment. Andy Pragacz, a member of Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier and a fourth-year graduate student studying sociology, spoke about mass incarceration and how it occurs at the local level in county jails. He also highlighted various ways students and community members can get involved by attending city council meetings and through education. “There’s a long-standing tradition, one that I think we need to bring back, of making sure we educate and making sure we bring our young people into the decision-making process,” Pragacz said. “If we’re not passing along knowledge then we’re not building viable organizations.”
Truth Pharm President Alexis Pleus spoke about her experience as a mother with sons who were addicted to opioids and called for the decriminalization of drug addiction and substance abuse. Pleus also said that people should hold government officials accountable for the opioid epidemic. He said that his generation allowed the government to make bad drug laws, but the younger generation was now responsible for changing them. “We need to fix the complacency that my generation created,” Pleus said. “I think that my generation became very complacent and allowed our elected officials to do what they want.” Toivo Asheeke, a fifth-year graduate student studying sociology, spoke about the importance of recognizing issues, as well as methods for mobilizing people to make lasting change. To demonstrate difficulties with mobilizing, Asheeke organized a simulation where people had to discuss a local issue while he also told the audience to interrupt and act uninterested. Through this, people were able to see how mobilizing can be a difficult task, and audience members also offered advice on the subject. One audience member pointed out how adults can often sound condescending when talking to students about important issues and how that
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Prof. talks history of 'Talk for Water' highlights environmental crisis grass-roots activism University organizations partner to spread awareness on int'l issues
Catherine Kudlick discusses unconventional advocacy at 10th annual Shriber Lecture Erica Prush Contributing Writer
For nearly a month in 1977, the fourth floor of the San Francisco Federal Building was occupied by 150 people with varying disabilities in an effort to get a final signature on a bill to protect disabled people from discrimination and guarantee them equal access to institutions receiving federal funding. This example of activism was the focus of Binghamton University’s 10th annual Shriber Lecture, held on Monday afternoon in the Center of Excellence’s Symposium Hall in the Innovative Technologies Complex. Catherine Kudlick, a professor at the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University, delivered the talk, titled “Protest as Inspiration, Inspiration as Protest: What Can 150 Disabled People in 1977 Teach Activists Today?” The talk was hosted by the history department and endowed by Harvey and Elizabeth Prior Shriber, two Broome County high school teachers whose foundation funds visiting lecturers annually in an effort to bring speakers to BU who can contribute both to the campus and the community. Lectures in recent years have been on peace negotiations in the Civil War and on nomad rulers in history. More than 100 students and faculty members attended, and Kudlick challenged their conceptions of activism based on the passing of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the result of the sit-in 40 years ago. “Right down to the curb cuts on every street corner and the students who fill classrooms, every single one of you was touched by these events, maybe 10 seconds ago,” Kudlick said. “Any
wheelchair-accessible classroom you enter is a direct result of what I’m talking about today.” The protestors, some blind, some deaf, some paraplegic and all of them disabled, stayed for 26 days. They formed a community and built cross-disability interdependence that previously was foreign to the disabled community, according to Kudlick. She described the disabled community as politically awakened from that moment forth. “The 504 Protest was a success because it had strong conviction inside and strong support outside,” she said. “It was passionate, smart and super embarrassing to public officials.” Kudlick spoke of the protest’s legacy in launching disability activism and as a precursor to the Occupy movement of 2011, in its lessons on grass-roots activism and protest by occupation. She also spoke of what 504 taught her about activism: It doesn’t require conventions. Determined to promote story of 504, Kudlick and her colleagues created “Patient No More,” an exhibition highlighting the protest’s history. The exhibition is designed to be completely accommodating for wheelchairs, and also includes audio recordings and “Braille rails” under every piece. It will be on display at the San Francisco Public Main Library in June. Kudlick said she also challenges her students to contribute Wikipedia articles on lesser-known events in history, like the 504 Protest, in a sort of digital activism that brings underrepresented groups and moments to the forefront. Both the exhibition and writing for Wikipedia, she concluded, are reimagined forms of activism that can reach as far and wide as
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ARTS & CULTURE
Alexandra Hupka News Intern
Every year, approximately 3.6 million people worldwide die from water-borne diseases. To bring awareness to this crisis, approximately 60 Binghamton University students, faculty members and community members came together at a “Talk for Water” workshop to learn about the importance of water and how to advocate for change. The event, sponsored by Hinman College Council, was held in the Old
University Union on Wednesday night. Last year’s event, titled “Walk for Water,” was organized in 2016 by Ryan Cadwell and Tina Lee, both former Hinman vice presidents of community service. Cadwell, a junior majoring in electrical engineering, and Lee, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, said they hoped to bring awareness to domestic and worldwide water issues. Lee said that the event was inspired by a conference in New York City. “There was a speaker there from the Thirst Project, a youth water-activism organization, and he gave an amazing
speech about why we should care about water and why it is vital to life,” Lee said. “That really made me passionate about the global water crisis and want to do something to help.” This year, Lee and Cadwell partnered with BU organizations like Newing College Council, the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), College Progressives, Engineering World Health, the Center for Civic Engagement, Circle K, Intellectual
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Panel discusses off-campus safety
Downtown initiatives the focus of student, local resident concerns Allison Detzel Contributing Writer
Around 40 students attended the first town hall hosted by the Binghamton University Roosevelt Institute on Tuesday, the BU branch of a national political think tank, to discuss the safety of students and their interactions with the local community. Brianna Cea, president of the Roosevelt Institute and a sophomore double-majoring in political science and philosophy, politics and law, said the event was designed to educate and engage students in a conversation about their safety while off of the BU campus. “By addressing safety and demonstrating how students can have a say in the political process, I hope that students will see themselves as part of the greater Binghamton community,” Cea said. The town hall featured a panel of campus and local officials, including Michael Contegni/Staff Photographer Binghamton Police Department Crime Prevention Lt. Michael Senio speaks to West Side and Downtown residents about off-campus safety.
OPINIONS
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SPORTS
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Former Binghamton standout signs contract to play in South Korea,
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